Judaism

"The Hebrew religion encompasses the philosophic transition from polytheism to monotheism; it is an evolutionary link between the religions of evolution and the religions of revelation. The Hebrews were the only western people to follow their early evolutionary gods straight through to the God of revelation."

Gnosticism

Gnosticism (after gnôsis, the Greek word for "knowledge" or "insight") is the name given to a loosely organized religious and philosophical movement that flourished in the first and second centuries CE. The exact origin(s) of this school of thought cannot be traced, although it is possible to locate influences or sources as far back as the second and first centuries BCE, such as the early treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Jewish Apocalyptic writings, and especially Platonic philosophy and the Hebrew Scriptures themselves.

A one-time only event of local universe significance occured on this planet August 21, 7 B.C. A Paradise Creator Son was born a mortal flesh and blood man among men. He grew, became increasingly aware of who he was and his mission to be played out on this world, but for the whole local universe of his making. With authority and grace he showed God to man, and man to God, unapologetically correcting the misguided and manipulative concepts preached in the Temple.

The Temple masters were not pleased with this interloper pointing out the corruptions of their teachings and its lucrative control over the people, but when he turned over the tables of their moneychangers they went balistic and nailed him to a cross on April 7, 30 A.D.

It's worth mentioning, as part of his mission Christ gave Notice to all within his domain:
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" John 14:9
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6
"Surely I come quickly." Revelation 22:20

Theology

Theology is the study of religions. Reality Roars specifically treats Judaism and Christianity and their respective apocrypha and pseudipigrapha, the gnostic writings, the Sumerian contributions and some of the "other" writings you may find of interest.

All history, all law and all civilizations began with religion. Take some time each day to read the writings you haven't read or revisit the ones that intrigue you the most. Your knowledge and intellectual preception of all subjects is critical to the wisdom of all creation.

Eurasia

"Asia is the homeland of the human race ... born in the highlands of what is now Afghanistan ... persisted for over one-half million years. Here the Sangik peoples differentiated from the Andonic stock, and Asia was their first home, their first hunting ground, their first battlefield." UB 79:0.1

America

In 1775, the Revolutionary War between the colonies and Britain started. On July 4, 1776, people from the thirteen colonies created the United States Declaration of Independence that said they were free. The Americans won the war and then the battle for freedom really began.

Going Where DarwinFeared to Tread

War Is A Racket

Communism's45 Goals

Science

There always exists the danger that the purely physical scientist may become afflicted with mathematical pride and statistical egotism, not to mention spiritual blindness. Matter and spirit and the state intervening between them are three interrelated and interassociated levels of the true unity of the real universe. UB 133:5

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and their societies. Its main subdivisions are social and cultural anthropology, describing the workings of societies, linguistic anthropology, investigating the influence of language in social life, and biological or physical anthropology, concerned with the development of the human organism.

Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of human activity, the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology is both a social science and a branch of the humanities. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history.

Going Where DarwinFeared to Tread

ArdipithecusRamidus

Human GenomeProject

Money

"For the love of money is the root of all evil," said Paul to Timothy.

"He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation." -James A. Garfield

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.” -James Madison

“The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.” The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863.

Secrets

"The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings." -John F. Kennedy

Opposed we may be, but that doesn't stop The Controllers from practicing such repugnant behavior. We have so many secret societies it makes a head spin ... secret agencies, secret governments, secret laws, secret money, secret handshakes ... secret everything that has to do with that self-chosen class of elites hell-bent on owning it all — the planet, the atmosphere, outer space and everything in, on, or near those locations. If it moves, breathes, or has mass, they want to own it. That especially includes you and me, my darlin's. Can't have any freewill on the loose causing problems for the totalitarian New World Order (NWO). Acronym that backwards (OWN) and have a stroke! -Gail Bird Allen

Power

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson

"Knowledge is power." -Francis Bacon

"Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best." -Edward Abbey

"To enjoy privilege without abuse, to have liberty without license, to possess power and steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement—these are the marks of high civilization." UB 48:7.8

"Jesus had a perfect grasp of the situation; he possessed unlimited power, which might have been utilized in the furtherance of his mission, but he was wholly content with means and personalities which most people would have regarded as inadequate and would have looked upon as insignificant. He was engaged in a mission of enormous dramatic possibilities, but he insisted on going about his Father's business in the most quiet and undramatic manner; he studiously avoided all display of power." UB 138:6.5

Conspiracy

1. An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
2. A group of conspirators.
3. Law. An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.

"If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It’s the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have a logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act." -Don DeLillo (b. 1926), U.S. author. Libra, pt. 2, “In Dallas” (1988)

"When the final roll was called, the corporeal members of the Prince's staff were found to have aligned themselves as follows: ... Nod and all of the commission on industry and trade joined Caligastia ("the devil")." UB 67:4.1

"The evil one concluded that the only hope for success lay in the adroit employment of suitable persons belonging to the upper strata of the Nodite group, the descendants of his onetime corporeal-staff associates." UB 75:2.3 ...and that explains how the CABAL was born.

Disabuse yourself of the idea that governments, corporations and NGO's do not engage in conspiracy for power and profit ... conspiracy was bred in the bed of capitalism. -Gail Bird Allen

History of The Urantia Book

Several members of this group who participated in the preliminary "contacts" which led up to the appearance of the Urantia Papers, had had considerable experience in the investigation of psychic phenomena. This group early arrived at the conclusion that the phenomena connected with the personality, who was later associated with the Urantia Papers, was in no way similar to any other well-known type of psychic performance - such as hypnosis, automatic writing, clairvoyance, trances, spirit mediumship, telepathy, or double personality.

It should be made clear that the antecedents of the Urantia Papers were in no way associated with so-called spiritualism -- with its seances and supposed communication with spirits of departed human beings.

Unique to The Urantia Book

The Urantia Book presents approximately 1000 concepts covering theology, science, history, philosophy, cosmology and others. Of these concepts there have been 64 identified as unique to The Urantia Book and presented for the first time on our planet.

Millions of other inhabited planets
Scores of different celestial personalities
Evolutionary origin of humankind and the physical realms
Intimation of multiple Creator Deities
"The First Source and Center" and "Havona"
"superuniverses" and "the Supreme Being"
"Master Spirits" and "outer space"
"Power Directors" and numerous orders of angels
"Thought Adjusters" (the spirit within)
The morontia level of existence
The Lucifer rebellion...

Revelation

The religious tendencies of the human races are innate; they are universally manifested and have an apparently natural origin; primitive religions are always evolutionary in their genesis. As natural religious experience continues to progress, periodic revelations of truth punctuate the otherwise slow-moving course of planetary evolution. UB 103:0.2

There have been many events of religious revelation but only five of epochal significance. These were as follows:The Dalamatian teachings. The true concept of the First Source and Center was first promulgated on Urantia by the one hundred corporeal members of Prince Caligastia' s staff.The Edenic teachings. Adam and Eve again portrayed the concept of the Father of all to the evolutionary peoples.Melchizedek of Salem. This emergency Son of Nebadon inaugurated the third revelation of truth on Urantia.Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since.The Urantia Papers.UB 92:4.4

The Urantia Book

The Urantia Book is a revelation given to our world by a commission of celestial personalities authorized and tasked to the mission by the Ancients of Days who rule over the seventh superuniverse that our world, named Urantia by the celestial administration, is part of. Over a twenty plus year period in the early 1900's this group of celestial personalities made contact with two prominent doctors, Dr. William Sadler and his wife Dr. Lena Sadler, that eventually culminated in The Urantia Book.

...except for contacts with the midwayers, no two contacts were alike. Seldom did we meet the visiting personalities more than once. Every contact was entirely different from any and all that had gone before. And all of this experience was an extensive and liberal preparatory educational training in the expansion of our cosmology, theology and philosophy..." Dr. William Sadler

Evolutionary religion is sentimental, not logical. It is man's reaction to belief in a hypothetical ghost-spirit world—the human belief-reflex, excited by the realization and fear of the unknown. Revelatory religion is propounded by the real spiritual world; it is the response of the superintellectual cosmos to the mortal hunger to believe in, and depend upon, the universal Deities. Evolutionary religion pictures the circuitous gropings of humanity in quest of truth; revelatory religion is that very truth. UB 92:4.3

Parts of the book

Read The Urantia Book

Although I leave breadcrumbs throughout the site to intice my visitors to read The Urantia Book it is best read from start to finish. I promise, you will know more about the physical and celestial realms than 98% of the world population.

This group of papers was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director.
The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.

The Mission

The mission of RealityRoars.com is first to bring together a collection of material to support what is really going on in our world as opposed to what we're told is going on, and second to collect all the evidence I can find supporting the concepts presented in The Urantia Book about our world, the cosmos it's a part of and the celestial realm that oversees and upholds all of it.

Subjects of Focus

There are several 'ingredients' in the reality recipe that are brought together in pursuing the whole pie. The first is theology as religion was/is the first civilizer of man. The second is history as the events of the past explain the present and indicate the future. The third is science as we have to know about new discoveries and developments and their affects on our lives. The fourth is conspiracy as that seems to be the modus operandi of that arrogant group of self-appointed totalitarian rulers currently holding the reins of our world. Fifth is The Urantia Book as it is truly the ultimate whipped cream topping.

Why It's Important

I firmly believe that what we don't know will and does hurt us. The policy makers of this world count on us not knowing because if we don't know, we aren't concerned, and if we aren't concerned we don't speak up — and that's exactly the way they want it. I also firmly believe that everyone should be informed in order to make sound and intelligent decisions for themselves and their families. Everyone's intellect is critical to the smooth and moral working of the whole.

I try to learn something new everyday and I hope you do too.

About

Welcome to RealityRoars.com! With me it's all about knowing everything about everything that piques my interest. As it happens I'm interested in a variety of subjects and I've never been afraid of research and reading. I gladly share my findings with you here.

I'm the seventh-great niece of three signers (Ross, Read and Wilson) of the Declaration of Independence, two of them (Read and Wilson) also signing The Constitution for the united States of America and one of them (James Wilson) being a Framer and Founding Father as well as one of the first Supreme Court justices appointed by George Washington. I blame them for any political outrage or hissy fit I may throw in response to the aggregious criminal conspiracy infecting our freedoms, our fortunes and our pursuit of happiness. I'm convinced it's an inherited familial trait.

Contact Form

This 400th anniversary edition of the King James Version of the Bible is a reprint of the 1611 text, in an easy-to-read roman font instead of the black-letter type of the original. The original capital letters, many of which are pictorial, have been restored to each chapter in order to replicate the visual appeal of the early editions.

The 1611 text is followed page-for-page and line-for-line, and all misprints are reproduced rather than corrected. The large body of preliminary matter, which includes genealogies, maps, and lists of readings, is also included. The text of the 1611 edition differs from modern editions of the King James Version in thousands of details, and this edition is the most authentic version of the original text that has ever been published.

The volume concludes with an essay by Gordon Campbell on the first edition of the King James Bible.

About the Author

Gordon Campbell is Professor of Renaissance Studies, Department of English at the University of Leicester

The most esteemed body of books left out of the Bible, the Old Testament Apocrypha is of interest to historians, religious scholars, and ordinary laypeople alike. For more than 70 years this version, edited by R.H. Charles, has been the definitive critical edition. Out of print for years, Apocryphile Press is proud to make it available once more to scholars and the curious.

Of all the books left out of the Bible, only the Apocrypha rivals the Pseudepigrapha in popularity and importance. This edition of the Pseudepigrapha was edited by R. H. Charles and was the definitive critical edition for over 70 years.

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

One of the world's foremost experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community that produced them provides an authoritative new English translation of the two hundred longest and most important nonbiblical Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, along with an introduction to the history of the discovery and publication of each manuscript and the background necessary for placing each manuscript in its actual historical context.

This definitive edition of THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY is the only complete, one-volume, English-language edition of the renowned library of fourth-century manuscripts discovered in Egypt in 1945 It includes the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and other Gnostic gospels and sacred tests. First published in 1978 and revised, expanded, and updated in 1999, THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY launched modern Gnostic studies and exposed a movement within Christianity whose teachings are in many ways – as bestselling author Elaine Pagels has shown – as relevant today as they were centuries ago. This edition takes into account recent developments in Gnostic scholarship, including the significance of the Gospel of Thomas as a source of the authentic sayings of Jesus. The translators include such prominent scholars as Elaine Pagels, Marvin Meyer, Helmut Koester, and Bentley Layton. The Chicago Theological Seminary Register called it “A tremendous achievement”.

From the Back Cover
This collection of apocryphal texts supersedes the best-selling edition by M. R. James, which was originally published in 1924, and regularly reprinted. Several new texts have come to light since 1924 and the textual base for some of the apocrypha previously translated by James is now more secure, as in several cases there are recently published critical editions available. Although a modest appendix to James's edition was added in 1953, no thorough revision has previously been undertaken. In this volume, J. K. Elliott presents new translations of the texts and has provided each of them with a short introduction and bibliography directed to those who wish to pursue further the issues raised in the texts, or to consult the critical editions, other versions, or general studies. The translations are in modern English, in contrast to James's deliberate imitation of the language of the Authorized Version. The collection is designed to give readers the most important and famous of the Christian apocrypha, together with a select sample of gnostic texts. Full translations of the earliest texts are printed.

A Letter of Jeremiah

From: The Catholic deuterocanonical scriptural texts

Defined by the Council of Trent

Chapter 1

6:1 A copy of an epistle, which Jeremy sent unto them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God.

6:2 Because of the sins which ye have committed before God, ye shall be led away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor king of the Babylonians.

6:3 So when ye be come unto Babylon, ye shall remain there many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations: and after that I will bring you away peaceably from thence.

6:4 Now shall ye see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear.

6:5 Beware therefore that ye in no wise be like to strangers, neither be ye and of them, when ye see the multitude before them and behind them, worshipping them.

6:6 But say ye in your hearts, O Lord, we must worship thee.

6:7 For mine angel is with you, and I myself caring for your souls.

6:8 As for their tongue, it is polished by the workman, and they themselves are gilded and laid over with silver; yet are they but false, and cannot speak.

6:9 And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loveth to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods.

6:10 Sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves.

6:11 Yea, they will give thereof to the common harlots, and deck them as men with garments, [being] gods of silver, and gods of gold, and wood.

6:12 Yet cannot these gods save themselves from rust and moth, though they be covered with purple raiment.

6:13 They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, when there is much upon them.

6:14 And he that cannot put to death one that offendeth him holdeth a sceptre, as though he were a judge of the country.

6:15 He hath also in his right hand a dagger and an ax: but cannot deliver himself from war and thieves.

6:16 Whereby they are known not to be gods: therefore fear them not.

6:17 For like as a vessel that a man useth is nothing worth when it is broken; even so it is with their gods: when they be set up in the temple, their eyes be full of dust through the feet of them that come in.

6:18 And as the doors are made sure on every side upon him that offendeth the king, as being committed to suffer death: even so the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest their gods be spoiled with robbers.

6:19 They light them candles, yea, more than for themselves, whereof they cannot see one.

6:20 They are as one of the beams of the temple, yet they say their hearts are gnawed upon by things creeping out of the earth; and when they eat them and their clothes, they feel it not.

6:21 Their faces are blacked through the smoke that cometh out of the temple.

6:22 Upon their bodies and heads sit bats, swallows, and birds, and the cats also.

6:23 By this ye may know that they are no gods: therefore fear them not.

6:24 Notwithstanding the gold that is about them to make them beautiful, except they wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for neither when they were molten did they feel it.

6:25 The things wherein there is no breath are bought for a most high price.

6:26 They are borne upon shoulders, having no feet whereby they declare unto men that they be nothing worth.

6:27 They also that serve them are ashamed: for if they fall to the ground at any time, they cannot rise up again of themselves: neither, if one set them upright, can they move of themselves: neither, if they be bowed down, can they make themselves straight: but they set gifts before them as unto dead men.

6:28 As for the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and abuse; in like manner their wives lay up part thereof in salt; but unto the poor and impotent they give nothing of it.

6:29 Menstruous women and women in childbed eat their sacrifices: by these things ye may know that they are no gods: fear them not.

6:30 For how can they be called gods? because women set meat before the gods of silver, gold, and wood.

6:31 And the priests sit in their temples, having their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.

6:32 They roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.

6:33 The priests also take off their garments, and clothe their wives and children.

6:34 Whether it be evil that one doeth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: they can neither set up a king, nor put him down.

6:35 In like manner, they can neither give riches nor money: though a man make a vow unto them, and keep it not, they will not require it.

6:36 They can save no man from death, neither deliver the weak from the mighty.

6:37 They cannot restore a blind man to his sight, nor help any man in his distress.

6:38 They can shew no mercy to the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.

6:39 Their gods of wood, and which are overlaid with gold and silver, are like the stones that be hewn out of the mountain: they that worship them shall be confounded.

6:40 How should a man then think and say that they are gods, when even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them?

6:41 Who if they shall see one dumb that cannot speak, they bring him, and intreat Bel that he may speak, as though he were able to understand.

6:42 Yet they cannot understand this themselves, and leave them: for they have no knowledge.

6:43 The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, burn bran for perfume: but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.

6:44 Whatsoever is done among them is false: how may it then be thought or said that they are gods?

6:45 They are made of carpenters and goldsmiths: they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be.

6:46 And they themselves that made them can never continue long; how should then the things that are made of them be gods?

6:47 For they left lies and reproaches to them that come after.

6:48 For when there cometh any war or plague upon them, the priests consult with themselves, where they may be hidden with them.

6:49 How then cannot men perceive that they be no gods, which can neither save themselves from war, nor from plague?

6:50 For seeing they be but of wood, and overlaid with silver and gold, it shall be known hereafter that they are false:

6:51 And it shall manifestly appear to all nations and kings that they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them.

6:52 Who then may not know that they are no gods?

6:53 For neither can they set up a king in the land, nor give rain unto men.

6:54 Neither can they judge their own cause, nor redress a wrong, being unable: for they are as crows between heaven and earth.

6:55 Whereupon when fire falleth upon the house of gods of wood, or laid over with gold or silver, their priests will flee away, and escape; but they themselves shall be burned asunder like beams.

6:56 Moreover they cannot withstand any king or enemies: how can it then be thought or said that they be gods?

6:57 Neither are those gods of wood, and laid over with silver or gold, able to escape either from thieves or robbers.

6:58 Whose gold, and silver, and garments wherewith they are clothed, they that are strong take, and go away withal: neither are they able to help themselves.

6:59 Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power, or else a profitable vessel in an house, which the owner shall have use of, than such false gods; or to be a door in an house, to keep such things therein, than such false gods. or a pillar of wood in a a palace, than such false gods.

6:60 For sun, moon, and stars, being bright and sent to do their offices, are obedient.

6:61 In like manner the lightning when it breaketh forth is easy to be seen; and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.

6:62 And when God commandeth the clouds to go over the whole world, they do as they are bidden.

6:63 And the fire sent from above to consume hills and woods doeth as it is commanded: but these are like unto them neither in shew nor power.

6:64 Wherefore it is neither to be supposed nor said that they are gods, seeing, they are able neither to judge causes, nor to do good unto men.

6:65 Knowing therefore that they are no gods, fear them not,

6:66 For they can neither curse nor bless kings:

6:67 Neither can they shew signs in the heavens among the heathen, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.

6:68 The beasts are better than they: for they can get under a cover and help themselves.

6:69 It is then by no means manifest unto us that they are gods: therefore fear them not.

6:70 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing: so are their gods of wood, and laid over with silver and gold.

6:71 And likewise their gods of wood, and laid over with silver and gold, are like to a white thorn in an orchard, that every bird sitteth upon; as also to a dead body, that is east into the dark.

6:72 And ye shall know them to be no gods by the bright purple that rotteth upon then1: and they themselves afterward shall be eaten, and shall be a reproach in the country.

6:73 Better therefore is the just man that hath none idols: for he shall be far from reproach.

"Nave's Topical Bible, " the best known of all topical bibles, has been a valuable Bible-study reference and a best-seller for more than 75 years. It is a comprehensive digest of over 20,000 topics and subtopics with more than 100,000 associated Scripture references. The most significant references for each topic actually include the full text of the verse cited saving the need to separately look up each verse.

Because "Nave's "groups verses by "idea" (or "topic"), it offers a better overview of relevant Scriptures than a concordance, which only lists or indexes verses according to specific words. This edition also includes the helpful Scripture index (left out of some other editions), which makes it possible for the reader studying a particular biblical text to locate every topic and grouping of Scripture in "Nave's "whenever a particular verse is included. That way, it is possible for the reader to study either all the verses related to a particular topic "or" all the topics related to a particular verse it works both ways.

For the pastor or teacher interested in saving hours of time but not willing to give their second best, and for anyone wanting to be challenged by what God has to say about a given subject, "Nave's Topical Bible" is the passport that will allow immediate and successful entry to the many points of interest."

About the Author

Orville J. Nave, A.M., D.D., LL.D., compiled this magnificient reference work while serving as a Chaplain in the United States Army. He referred to his work as "the result of fourteen years of delightful and untiring study of the Word of God."

Read the best of Matthew Henry's classic commentary on the Bible in one convenient book. Henry's profound spiritual insights have touched lives for over 300 years. Indexed maps and charts make this a book any pastor, student, Bible teacher, or devotional reader will treasure!

About the Author

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) was a Presbyterian minister in England who began his commentary on the Bible in 1704. He completed his work up to the end of Acts before his death. Afterward, his ministerial friends completed the work from Henry's notes and writings.

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, the result of more than ten years of research and preparation, provides Bible students with a comprehensive and reliable library of information. Varying viewpoints of scholarship permit a well-rounded perspective on significant issues relating to doctrines, themes, and biblical interpretation. Well-organized and generously illustrated, this encyclopedia will become a frequently used resource and reference work because of its many helpful features: - More than 5,000 pages of vital information of Bible lands and people - More than 7,500 articles alphabetically arranged for easy reference - Hundreds of full-color and black-and-white illustrations, charts, and graphs - Thirty-two pages of full-color maps and hundreds of black-and-white outline maps for quick perspective and ready reference - Scholarly articles ranging across the entire spectrum of theological and biblical topics, backed by recent archaeological discoveries - Two hundred and thirty-eight contributors from around the world. The editors have brought to this encyclopedia the fruit of many years of study and research.

About the Author

Merrill C. Tenney was professor of theological studies and dean of the Graduate school of Theology at Wheaton College.

The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary puts the latest and most comprehensive biblical scholarship at your fingertips. Here is everything you need to know to fully understand the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. An unparalleled resource, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary explains every aspect of the Bible, including biblical archaeology, culture, related writings such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Bible‘s influence on Western civilization, biblical history, theological concepts, modern biblical interpretations, flora nad fauna, climate and environment, crafts and industry, the content of individual books of the bible, and more.

The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary features:

Contributions by 193 noted experts on the Bible and the ancient Near East

More than 3700 entries covering the Bible from A to Z

Outlines for each book of the Bible

590 black–and–white photographs

53 color photographs

An updated pronunciation guide

72 black–and–white maps

18 color maps

Dozens of drawings, diagrams, and tables

About the Author

Paul J. Achtemeier is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. A widely respected authority on the Bible, he is the author or co-author of 14 books, former editor of the quarterly Interpretation, and New Testament editor of the Interpretation Biblical Commentary Series. Professor Achtemeier has also been chief executive officer and president of the Society of Biblical Literature, and president of the Catholic Biblical Association.

The Society of Biblical Literature is a seven-thousand-member international group of experts on the Bible and related fields. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon.com Review

For the maps alone, this book is worth it. Following 1,250 pages that describe and explain the people, places, terms, and events of the Bible from Aaron to Zurishaddai, the 16 spectacular maps detail the political entities and boundaries of biblical times, bringing the historic times to vivid life. A fascinating book, an impressive collection of scholarship, and a possession to cherish, the 188 contributors and five editors show what can be produced if you don't cut corners on excellence. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Like a redwood that towers above all other trees, The Strongest Strong’s takes James Strong’s classic concordance to unprecedented heights. Reflecting thousands of research hours, custom computer technology, and an exclusive database perfected over twenty years, The Strongest Strong’s is packed with features that make it the last word in accuracy and usefulness. No other Strong’s concordance can touch it. This is no mere study tool. Destined to become a foundational resource for Bible study the world over, The Strongest Strong’s is a landmark in biblical reference works.

What Makes This Strong’s the Strongest? Rebuilding Strong’s time-honored concordance from the ground up, biblical research experts John Kohlenberger and James Swanson have achieved unprecedented accuracy and clarity. Longstanding errors have been corrected. Omissions filled in. Word studies simplified. Thoroughness and ease of use have been united and maximized.

Kohlenberger and Swanson have also added the Nave’s Topical Bible Reference System―the world’s most complete topical Bible, updated, expanded, and streamlined to meet the needs of today’s Bible user. No other edition of Strong’s or Nave’s gives you all the information combined in The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

A Stunning Array of World-Class Features

In order to experience all the advantages of The Strongest Strong’s, you’ll have to look inside. But here is a thumbnail sketch of what awaits you:

Nave’s Topical Bible Reference System supplies the complete descriptive content and references (without the Bible text) of Nave’s Topical Bible, expanded to provide a total of more than 100,000 verses indexed by subject, word, phrase, synonym, and example

Cross-references to places and names used in Bible translations besides the KJV

A Nelson exclusive. Study the meaning of biblical words in the original languages-without spending years learning Greek or Hebrew. This classic reference tool has helped thousands dig deeper into the meaning of the biblical text. Explains over 6,000 key biblical words. Includes a brand new comprehensive topical index that enables you to study biblical topics more thoroughly than ever before.

Never in your long ascendancy will you lose the power to recognize your associates of former existences. Always, as you ascend inward in the scale of life, will you retain the ability to recognize and fraternize with the fellow beings of your previous and lower levels of experience. Each new translation or resurrection will add one more group of spirit beings to your vision range without in the least depriving you of the ability to recognize your friends and fellows of former estates.

And here is mystery: The more closely man approaches God through love, the greater the reality -- actuality -- of that man. The more man withdraws from God, the more nearly he approaches nonreality -- cessation of existence. When man consecrates his will to the doing of the Father's will, when man gives God all that he has, then does God make that man more than he is.

"And do you not remember that I said to you once before that, if you had your spiritual eyes anointed, you would then see the heavens opened and behold the angels of God ascending and descending? It is by the ministry of the angels that one world may be kept in touch with other worlds, for have I not repeatedly told you that I have other sheep not of this fold?"

But we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and that there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to comprehend the philosophy of universe meanings. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience—God-consciousness.

When you are through down here, when your course has been run in temporary form on earth, when your trial trip in the flesh is finished, when the dust that composes the mortal tabernacle "returns to the earth whence it came"; then, it is revealed, the indwelling "Spirit shall return to God who gave it." There sojourns within each moral being of this planet a fragment of God, a part and parcel of divinity. It is not yet yours by right of possession, but it is designedly intended to be one with you if you survive the mortal existence.

And the greatest of all the unfathomable mysteries of God is the phenomenon of the divine indwelling of mortal minds. The manner in which the Universal Father sojourns with the creatures of time is the most profound of all universe mysteries; the divine presence in the mind of man is the mystery of mysteries.

To every spirit being and to every mortal creature in every sphere and on every world of the universe of universes, the Universal Father reveals all of his gracious and divine self that can be discerned or comprehended by such spirit beings and by such mortal creatures. God is no respecter of persons, either spiritual or material. The divine presence which any child of the universe enjoys at any given moment is limited only by the capacity of such a creature to receive and to discern the spirit actualities of the supermaterial world.

Paradise is the eternal center of the universe of universes and the abiding place of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and their divine co-ordinates and associates. This central Isle is the most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all the master universe. Paradise is a material sphere as well as a spiritual abode. All of the intelligent creation of the Universal Father is domiciled on material abodes; hence must the absolute controlling center also be material, literal. And again it should be reiterated that spirit things and spiritual beings are real.

Culture presupposes quality of mind; culture cannot be enhanced unless mind is elevated. Superior intellect will seek a noble culture and find some way to attain such a goal. Inferior minds will spurn the highest culture even when presented to them ready-made.

True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings.

How dare the self-willed creature encroach upon the rights of his fellows in the name of personal liberty when the Supreme Rulers of the universe stand back in merciful respect for these prerogatives of will and potentials of personality! No being, in the exercise of his supposed personal liberty, has a right to deprive any other being of those privileges of existence conferred by the Creators and duly respected by all their loyal associates, subordinates, and subjects.

There is no error greater than that species of self-deception which leads intelligent beings to crave the exercise of power over other beings for the purpose of depriving these persons of their natural liberties. The golden rule of human fairness cries out against all such fraud, unfairness, selfishness, and unrighteousness.